Pro life protesters took it too far by showing up at an O.C. doctor’s home

About 50 to 100 antiabortion protesters wrote messages in chalk and shouted slurs outside the home of a Newport Beach obstetrician who was one of the doctors to oppose Hoag Hospital’s decision to eliminate elective abortions, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The protest late Thursday outside the Dover Shores home of Dr. Richard Agnew, a Hoag Hospital-affiliated physician, was led by a group of protesters who mostly appeared to be in their early teens and wrote messages in chalk that included “neighborhood serial killer” and “This house was built from blood.”

But Dr. Agnew’s wife, Kathrine, said her husband’s office typically performed abortions for nonviable fetuses with abnormalities.

The protest was so disgusting that it prompted U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez to release a statement which read in part:

“We all know the issue of women’s reproductive rights inspires passionate debate but all too often in the past, doctors and nurse practitioners have been the victims of violence. Clinics have been vandalized; office workers intimidated and I want that to make sure that does not happen in Orange County.

“I support and defend free speech and the right to protest but the scene at the doctor’s private residence is unacceptable. No matter where you stand on the issue, doctors should not be targeted at their homes nor should their neighbors be subjected to slurs and obscenities.”

Rep. Sanchez urged the demonstrators to abstain from venting their frustrations on individual doctors and instead focus their efforts on a peaceful, non-violent protest.